The Details

Daft Punk: Tron: Legacy

Daft Punk’s futuristic electro-funk seems tailor-made for science fiction films. In fact, it’s a no-brainer that the French duo scored the soundtrack of Tron: Legacy, the sequel to the 1982 sci-fi masterpiece. It’s curious and disappointing, then, that the Legacy score has little of the digital dazzle that makes Daft Punk great. Sweeping, eerie orchestral snippets dominate, from the horn armies marching through “Rectifier” to the nuanced strings that bless “Adagio for Tron.” Legacy is far more compelling when Daft Punk plays to its strengths. Eight-bit Nintendo squelches squirm through outer-space synth drones on the chilly “End of Line.” “Derezzed” is even better: Its hard techno checkerboard is the audio equivalent of a retro arcade game. And the Moby-ish “Solar Sailer”—in which softly cascading electronic beats pulsate over watery keyboards—has that elusive robotic warmth that Legacy so sorely needs. In the end, it’s a solid movie score, but only a so-so Daft Punk production.